Role of Organisms
In the early 1930s Cornelis Van Niel discovered that sulfide-dependent chemoautotrophic bacteria (purple sulfur bacteria) fix carbon and synthesize water as a byproduct of a photosynthetic pathway using hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide :
Few organisms utilize this method of photosynthesis today, making their water contribution negligible. But on the hydrogen sulfide-rich and oxygen-poor early planet, a small but significant portion of the earth's water may have been synthesized biochemically through this pathway.
Read more about this topic: Origin Of Water On Earth
Famous quotes containing the words role of, role and/or organisms:
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